What Waits in the Dark
by ajremix
Summary: Wreckers fic.  Even the powerful have things they fear.


They'd found an entrance to a lower level in the auxiliary hangar- not yet fully constructed before the Decepticons had been routed from the planet. With Whirl and Broadside guarding the entrance, the other Wreckers dropped into the darkness, alert to whatever was waiting to be found. The half built halls quickly gave way to partially built halls that gradually became old mining tunnels. Six beams of light crawled over the earth and pillars around them as Twin Twist picked the way forward. The underground was as much his natural element as it was possible for a mechanical being.

He studied the walls, ceiling and floor carefully- the construction and positions of support beams, the cuts on the rock, even the way particles of dirt floated around them. Eventually he announced, "This is a magnetite mine. Old- constructed probably three thousand years ago. Doesn't look like it's been used in half that time."

"Why not?" Scoop asked.

"Dunno. I worked in mines halfway across the quadrant. If anything happened or if the vein dried out, I wouldn't have heard."

"But you know it's magnetite?"

Twin Twist didn't look over his shoulder as he responded to Springer. "Definitely. Different tools and different support systems for different ores, you know?" They walked for a bit more before he started wincing- before all of them started wincing. "Right- definitely still magnetite down here. Power down your more sensitive sensors if you still want to go on."

"Did miners get any protection down here?" Topspin asked, adjusting his systems so it didn't feel like the magnetic ore was scrambling them. "This _can't_ be safe."

"Well first off," the driller chided lightly, "miners don't have their sensors nearly as fine-tuned as us. Second, they do get some kind of protection. Usually. Depending on the company, really."

"Oh, business moguls. Are there no corners you won't attempt to cut?"

"Not if it doesn't make them money," Sandstorm replied.

Abruptly the tunnel came to a halt. Three of the Wreckers groused at the anticlimactic end. Springer and Roadbuster were already planning out their reports. Twin Twist was studying one of the pillars with intent.

Sandstorm was already turning back even as he said, "We bouncing?"

Scoop, however, noticed something important. "Hey- these rocks are fresh!"

"Fresh?" Topspin stepped next to the shovel. He touched the collapsed tunnel and he was no miner or construction worker, but he could tell the dirt was far too moist to have been exposed to air for even a hundred years. "Think it might've collapsed when the 'cons were building?"

"No. To orderly to be natural and I can detect trace amounts of explosives," the smaller mech said decisively. He turned to Springer, "Should we dig through? See what the 'cons were trying to bury?"

"No."

They all turned to Twin Twist who was looking at the rocks as if expecting it to congeal into some sort of demonic creature and attack. "We can't be here. Leave it alone- we need to go."

Springer frowned, putting a hand to Twin Twist's shoulder. "Hey- you alright?"

He didn't look alright at all. "This thing was collapsed for a reason," he said. "We can_not_ open it, no matter what! It'll... if there's anything there, it'll be corrupted and deadly and it'll kill everything it can."

The other Wreckers wavered between confused and concerned. "What are you talking about?"

"Monsters. Demons trapped under the rock. Creatures that should be dead but whose minds got twisted instead," Twin Twist was almost reduced to whispering, beginning to shiver under Springer's hand. "Zombies."

There was an explosive sigh as Sandstorm and Scoop relaxed on their struts. "Geez," the triplechanger admonished, "I almost thought you were being serious! Zombies. Good one- too bad Whirl wasn't here for that."

But Twin Twist wasn't joking. He grabbed Topspin's hand out of reflexive comfort and stared at Springer with wide, fearful optics. "I'm not making this up, Springer. Whoever closed this mine put a warning on the beam and do you honestly think the Decepticons would've let any resources go without a good reason? Please- when have I _ever_ asked for us to fall back?"

Less times than anyone else on the team, Springer knew. And all of those times basically saved their lives. But... Springer looked up at Roadbuster.

"There are still a number of reportedly captured Autobots unaccounted for," the large mech rumbled neutrally.

Springer squeezed the driller's arm. "Sorry, Twist. If there's a chance those 'bots might be in there, we have to check it out."

"If they're in there," he said, "then they're already dead."

"Not until we have proof of it. If you can't go in, head back to Side and Whirl. We'll take care of it from here."

For a long moment it looked like Twin Twist would actually leave. Instead, he turned back to the wall and cycled in a long drag of air. "I'll help you," and everyone could practically hear the words rearrange themselves: I'll try to protect you.

* * *

They waited until the debris settled and their view was clear before stepping through the opening. Twin Twist had requested that Roadbuster and Scoop stay behind. "Because if we need to leave, it has to be _fast_. And if we can't the two of you need to destroy the tunnel and make sure nothing escapes."

His conviction that something beyond terror was waiting in the darkness sent cold chills through layers of thick armor.

"Keep quiet, keep alert and if something moves, shoot it."

"We're looking for MIAs," Springer reminded.

Twin Twist's optics were cold and hard. "If they went deeper into the tunnel, there's no hope for them."

The orange triplechange boggled at him. "You really believe this zombie stuff, don't you?"

"Every miner knows about them. I've heard space shuttles and explorers talk about them, too. Just because you've never seen them before doesn't mean they're not real."

"And _you've_ seen them?"

Twin Twist's rifle creaked in his grip. "Alive? No. Dead, after having killed half a shift crew? That was enough for me."

* * *

The way was dark and surprisingly uneven and it took them some time to pick their way out. It of course didn't help their progress when their lights swept over rocks and beams that were gouged, slashed or dented. Or when they found their first body- an ancient miner smashed under half a wall sloping inward. Or when they started finding bits of armor and eventually bits of bodies.

Topspin had knelt and picked up a forearm, analyzing the marks. He looked up at Springer and said, "Whatever did this, I don't like it."

The other jumpstarter didn't say anything- he knew the medic in Topspin and the instincts in Springer were lining in agreement with his warnings, but he didn't feel any triumph the vindication. Especially since he knew his companions' ethics wouldn't allow them to leave fellow Autobots to whatever lay in the shadows.

They moved on a few steps until Springer turned around to call out, "Sandstorm- keep up."

"There's a shaft that goes straight up," he said, peering curiously upward.

"Probably to vent dangerous gas or circulate air. You're getting left behind."

Sandstorm stood there for a moment longer, watching the shadows dancing around the shaft. He stretched his pace to catch up to the others.

* * *

"Oh, damn." Topspin and Twin Twist jogged ahead- Twin Twist to keep his friend in the spread of his light, Topspin to get to the body of an Autobot lying rag doll still on the ground.

Springer and Sandstorm joined them at a slower pace, watching every crevice around them as Topspin checked the mech. "Well? Is he dead?"

"Yeah," the medic sighed roughly. "Someone's drained him of fluids."

Two heads whirled to stare at him. "What?"

"Drained. There's just drops left."

Even with the visor and plating in the way, Sandstorm looked vaguely nauseous. "How could he be drained?" Springer asked. "There's barely any fluid around him!"

"See these?" Topspin pointed to some strange marks near the ragged edges of cables. "Those are bite marks."

"_Bite_ marks? You mean something tried to _eat_ him?"

"No," Twin Twist said. "They bit him so they could drink."

The triplechangers looked distinctly sick. "Drink...?"

"Alright," Sandstorm demanded, "what _exactly_ are we dealing with here and don't just say 'zombies' or 'monsters' or 'creatures of the night'! _What_ are they and why are they... _drinking_ mechs?"

Twin Twist just looked at him for a moment then said, "They were originally miners. Long, long ago. Mining is dangerous work- cave ins happen to everyone at least once in their lives. Sometimes... sometimes we can't always dig them out. It's not safe enough, too much debris and not enough manpower, not enough money for a rescue or the company simply doesn't think it's worth the time and resources. So if anyone survives the cave in, they're just left there. In the dark. Sometimes they die, sometimes they don't. So they wait, hoping someone will come and rescue them.

"If there's a chance anyone's been left behind the other miners carve things like when it happened and how many might be on the other side. It's a warning. Because some mines can really mess a mech up. Ones like this that has magnetic ore, the ones with radioactive ores, or maybe there's a gas leak. Especially energon mines. Someone will get so desperate for energy they start eating the pure, unprocessed ore and get energon poisoning. On top of that all the dark and waiting, never knowing if anyone's going to come for you or if you'll just die in that place. They go crazy. They slip into some weird kind of hibernation and if anyone stumbles on them, they'll rip apart the bodies, desperate for energy. They can't think beyond needing to drink. They're not mechs anymore, they're just... walking death."

He looked at Springer and didn't have to say it- Springer already knew. He wanted to leave. He thought the danger outweighed the chance anyone was alive and he wanted to leave to protect his friends. Springer could sense the hesitance from Topspin and Sandstorm and he didn't exactly want to continue but... but he couldn't bring himself to leave. Not if there was still a chance they could save someone.

"If you don't want to continue," he told them, "you can leave. But I can't. Not until I find all the missing Autobots."

They knew he would say that and, in a way, they drew strength from his steadfastness. They stayed. And Springer drew strength from their loyalty.

* * *

Two bodies were sprawled out. One an ancient miner with half-dried energon on his hands and his head smeared across the ground, the other a barely recognizable mass of minibot, badly damaged, leaking but still alive.

The moment Topspin touched him, the minibot's optics flare on and he began screaming- cursing, begging, threatening, his words echoed in the dark until they jumble in as sad and tattered a heap as the body was. Twin Twist clamped a hand hard across his mouth and hissed, "Shut up, you idiot! Do you want to bring them down on all of us?"

"It's alright," Topspin said as soothingly as possible, trying to locate all the wounds and stem them. "We're Wreckers- Autobots. We're here to rescue you. You're safe now."

Twin Twist slowly pulled his hand away and the minibot shook beneath them. "No," he said hoarsely, "not here. We're not safe here. _No one's_ safe here. Please, get me out. Get me out of here. Please. Please, please, get me out. We have to leave. They'll come back, they'll kill us all, please, we have to go, get me out of here, please, I beg of you, please-"

Twin Twist covered his mouth again and told Topspin, "Can you offline him? He won't stop otherwise."

"Ask if he knows where the others are, first," Springer ordered.

"Hey, buddy," Topspin said in a low, friendly voice, "we need to get the other Autobots that were thrown in here with you. Do you know where they are?"

Twin Twist lifted his hand and the minibot slowly turned his head towards where the tunnel went deeper still, as if afraid shapes would start manifesting from the shadows. "They... they took 'em." He said in a tiny voice. "They were screaming. Screaming. The entire time. And those... those _things_ tore them apart with their hands and their teeth. They were still alive and they were screaming..."

He patted the poor minibot's hand, trying not to let his visor transmit how unnerved he was. "Alright. I'm going to offline you, okay? I promise, you'll be safe and fixed up in no time. We just need to get you out of here, alright?"

"Please," he whimpered, "please..."

Topspin reached around and offlined him, then sat back on his heels, looking up at Springer.

Springer didn't say anything but, "I'll carry him."

"If those zombies find us-"

Springer cut off Twin Twist sharply. "I'll carry him." And that was that.

"Alright," Sandstorm said lowly, "so are we heading back with our survivor, or are we still going to search for more?"

"One dead, one alive- there should be two more left. How many did the warning say was trapped?"

"Eight." Twin Twist could hear Sandstorm hiss. "That's actually really small. It must've been a test-dig group that went ahead to find a rich vein. Warnings and a second wall are put up far from the initial block, just in case they manage to escape. The fact that we haven't actually come across any debris serious enough to trap any miners means the Decepticons must've let them loose earlier."

"Great. One more thing to hate those slag suckers for."

"We already know two of those miners are dead and with all the wreckage earlier, at least one other is, too. That leaves five." Topspin said, finishing up some basic patches on his patient.

"C'mon," Springer said, turning to let Topspin put the minibot on his back, "let's try to find those last two, then get the hell out of here and turn this place to molten slag. No one deserves to live like this."

* * *

Drops of partially dried energon gleamed balefully in the dark and the Wreckers had no choice but to follow them. The drops turned into a trickle, then a smear barely glowing in the dirt. Then their lights swept over the cave with energon splattered on the ground and walls, as if a body had exploded, spraying indiscriminately. And there, in the center, were the pieces of that body, raggedly torn apart with no plan, no thought, just by something that knew what it wanted was inside and only cared about getting to it.

It disturbed them. Mechs that have seen the worst of war, their fellow Autobots, their friends and even themselves and yet the thought of being stuck in the darkness on a path going only one way with five creatures that were once mechs- it chilled them down to the smallest gears. Space was limited, their thick armor occasionally brushing the sides of the decrepit tunnel and their beams of light did little to penetrate the inky nothing that spread before them, like some earthen throat waiting to swallow them whole. With most of their sensors limited to keep the magnetite from confusing them, they were far blinder than they were ever used to being. The anticipation of something- _anything_ -made the shadows press in on them, seeping into joints and curling around pumps. Springer, Sandstorm and Topspin wondered how their teammate had survived, even _enjoyed_ working in a place like that. They could feel a piece of them wanting to break into screams at the vast nothing waiting to crush them. Twin Twist looked around the tunnels and didn't think of it as comforting. He could feel it in the pistons in his hands and the hinges between his shoulders- it wasn't a mine anymore and it hadn't been for a long, long time. It was a grave. The only thing to be found there now was death.

They moved forward cautiously, weapons pointed at nothing as Topspin bent to study the remains. "Just one," he said quietly, prodding and categorizing each piece.

"Why is it like this?" Springer asked, his voice terse. "The first one was neatly bleed out," he winced at his own choice of words, "and even the minibot was relatively tidy. So why is this one such a mess?"

They turned to Twin Twist instinctively and he could feel their optics on his back. "I don't know- I don't think _anyone_ knows why they do anything! Maybe it was their first victim and they were too desperate to bother. Maybe something interrupted them."

The sentence fell heavy and cold around them all and Sandstorm put voice to what they all were thinking. "Something... like us?"

And then hell broke free from the darkness.

It was only through instincts honed by centuries of battle that had Springer twisting away from a hand as thin and quick as a lash. A body, crumbling before him, peeled itself from the ceiling and dropped on him, clawing at the hurt minibot on his back until Sandstorm smashed it away with the butt of his rifle. He stepped on the thing's torso, putting three rounds in the chest and two in the head. Its wounds didn't bleed so much as oozed.

More creatures came out at them, one landing a glancing blow on Topspin's armor, another grabbing at Twin Twist's arms, letting out some strange, hissing roar into his face. He dropped it with a sharp head butt to the faceplate, shoving his rifle into its mouth and pulling the trigger until the back of its head blew out. He glanced over his shoulder to see Topspin stepping back. His own creature slid to the ground, face dashed across the rock wall and faintly twitching.

The darkness hiss-roared at them and they spun, aiming for creatures they still couldn't see. Sandstorm gave a shout and by the time they looked back, he was already being dragged into an airshaft.

"Sandstorm!" Springer tried to grab at his kicking legs, but they were out of reach and the triplechanger was quickly disappearing into the dark. "_Sandstorm_!"

The mech tried to wrench from his captor's grip, but they were strong for their deceptive thinness. Sandstorm twisted his body, jamming his stabilizers into the sides of the shaft, making him bite back a yelp. He was stuck fast and hands scrabbled in frustration against his shoulders and head and he couldn't get his own arms up to either defend himself or shove his way back down. A head flashed into his light beam- half constructed, the metal rotting and wires poking through gaps. It howled angrily at him and Sandstorm couldn't stop the hands that roughly shoved his head to one side or the teeth that clamped down on the cables of his neck.

Springer's light swung wildly around the airshaft, unable to see far enough to make out Sandstorm but he heard a strangled cry echo down to him. Followed closely by a brief stream of energon that splattered against his arm and chest. Springer's spark went cold. He shucked the minibot from his back and into Topspin's arms. "Hold him!" His leg thrusters flared to life and he leapt into the airshaft, half flying, half climbing through, desperate to find the other Wrecker.

His hand grabbed a foot and Springer didn't think about how still the leg was or the energon dripping on him or the mouth that glowed in the darkness and howled at him. He just saw the way Sandstorm had wedged himself, braced against the walls and _pulled_. The two Wreckers fell down the shaft, Springer's thrusters on just enough to control their descent. They hit the bottom and Springer rolled them out of the way as Topspin stepped in, raised his weapon and fired two rounds into the gaping face that chased down after them. The body fell to the ground as a sick, crumpled heap.

"Springer," Twin Twist said tightly, still guarding against the hissing shadows, "we need to leave."

Even with Topspin looking over a barely conscious Sandstorm, Springer still hesitated. There was still one Autobot unaccounted for. Once he was certain Sandstorm's auto repair would keep him alive, the medic gave Springer a hard look. "We _have_ to. We have two badly hurt mechs and we don't know how many of these things there are!"

"We've killed four of them-"

"They're not all miners, Springer." Topspin flipped the body of the thing he just killed. A Decepticon sigil was barely visible through all the grime. "We don't know how many there are now."

The hissing grew around them. Springer shuttered his optics for a moment, fighting back the pride and compassion that refused to let him back down. "Alright," he said, "I'll take Sandstorm, you get the minibot. Twist- you see them gaining, drop a grenade if you have to. They're not laying a hand on anyone again."

* * *

Even for the fact they were practically running, the time it took to get back to the entrance was frighteningly quick and the idea that those things could possibly get free made fuel pumps freeze. The mouth of the opening shone like a beacon, Roadbuster and Scoop's silhouettes markers of safety and familiarity. At the sight of Springer practically dragging Sandstorm, Roadbuster stepped in and took the hurt triplechanger into his much larger arms. Scoop stared at them in shock, never seeing the three so rattled before. "What happened in there?"

"Later," Springer said. "Twist, what do we need to destroy this tunnel and everything in it?"

"A lot more than I've got on me."

"Alright- block the entrance for now, then grab what you need from Xantium." His optics were steeled blue, tinged with horror and disbelief. "No one is ever going in there again and those things are _never_ coming out."

"I swear by the primal source," Twin Twist replied, setting up a ring of explosives and a trigger, "they won't."

* * *

Sandstorm and the minibot recovered. Physically, anyway, but then no one could ever completely recover after that experience. The tunnel left its mark on all of them. Topspin had found the wounds the two mechs received had become infected with some strange bacteria. He managed to fight the infection off, but sent a sample back to the Hub to be analyzed. He didn't know if it had anything to do with the behaviors of those creatures and discussed at length just what it was with the Hub scientists. Sandstorm was an accomplished enough actor to fool everyone into thinking he had coped with the ordeal. All those that never saw him sometimes touch the mended fuel cables in his neck or notice the way he sometimes jumped at hissing noises and lights in the dark. Springer, too, seemed fairly well adjusted, but he sometimes caught himself hesitating before darkened corridors or rooms as if he expected something to be waiting for him in the shadows.

Twin Twist destroyed the tunnel, just as he said. The explosion was so hot the magnetite melted and no mech could've survived the blast. He replaced the warning, though, just in case. Then he built eight small pyramids out of rock, a piece of magnetite on top each one and prayed to them. Then he sprinkled a handful of dirt over each and bade them safe journey back to the All Spark. A miner's burial, he said, when there were no bodies recovered.

The other three didn't apologize for not believing him and he didn't blame them for ignoring his warnings. There was no point by then. They experienced and they learned from that experience and they were alive. Those were most important and they never took superstitions at face value again.


End file.
